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Car Theft
A garda told Dublin District Court that the pair were arrested following a 40-minute traffic pursuit and were ‘caught red-handed’.
TWO MEN CHARGED in connection with a traffic pursuit in which a stolen car allegedly drove on the wrong side of the M50 in Dublin on Sunday evening have been denied bail.
Daniel Brown (22) of Hampton Wood in Dublin 11 was charged with four counts of dangerous driving, being in a stolen Volkswagen Golf Estate and possession of cannabis.
Twenty-five-year-old co-defendant Adam White, also from Hampton Wood, was charged with being in the stolen car and possession of cannabis for sale or supply.
The pair are also accused of having a stolen key to a Toyota car and theft implements.
Garda Dylan Toner from Coolock Garda Station gave evidence of the arrest, charge, and caution, and objected to bail for the pair, who had no solicitors to represent them because of the escalating industrial dispute over legal aid fee reforms introduced in July.
They opted to represent themselves and had separate hearings in which Garda Dylan Toner told Judge Karen Dowling they made no reply when charged.
Garda Toner objected to bail, citing the seriousness of the incident and charges. He said he expected the case would be sent to the circuit court, but the book of evidence has yet to be completed.
He was emphatic that imposing bail conditions would not alleviate his concerns.
The Coolock-based officer alleged that the pair were arrested following a 40-minute traffic pursuit and were “caught red-handed”.
It was alleged that the Garda helicopter captured the whole incident on CCTV, which has been downloaded.
He told the court that Mr Brown drove for over a kilometre northbound on the southbound lane of the M50 before he was arrested.
In cross-examination, the accused, Mr Brown, asked the guard if he had seen him getting out of the driver’s side. The judge warned the accused, because he had no legal representation, about the risk of self-incrimination.
He maintained he was being carried in the stolen car, adding, “I put my hands up to that”.
The judge gave them time to read the bail objections and allowed Mr Brown’s partner and a relative of Mr White’s to sit with each of them briefly to help them prepare for the bail hearings.
Mr White said, “I had nothing to do with the car.”
Both men had seen a doctor in garda custody for injuries and were deemed fit to appear in court.
Mr Brown’s face was bruised, and Mr White, a father of three, said he had a sore ankle.
The garda said Mr White was caught close to the car when it stopped. He was adamant that no bail conditions would satisfy him and said the charges painted a picture in relation to that alleged incident.
Judge Dowling stressed that the pair enjoyed the presumption of innocence and lacked legal representation.
However, the judge held that the threshold had been reached to refuse both men’s applications and remanded them in custody to appear at Cloverhill District Court on Friday.